Chapter 1— Girl Gets Hit by a Bus (Goes Right)

12/14 edit: Before you start, please give this PSA a read! It's important! I'm going to paste the same announcement in the next update, but for now I'll leave it here for new readers to see.

It has come to my attention that some of you think this fic is going to have ships like Draco/MC or Harry/MC and stuff.

Alright, first of all, as you see in the genres, romance isn't a main theme here. This could definitely change in the future, but for now, the story is more about the plot than the ships.

Second, most of my plans going forward are for plot and character development, so I have no idea who the MC will end up with, or even if she's going to end up with anyone at all. I assure ya, though, that if she does, it is not going to be with a traditional main character— because I wouldn't get in the way of my own OTPs, and I ship pretty much all of them with other people (LOL).

Third… This is easier to explain on Ao3 because there are tags like "Het and Slash" over there, but to put it plainly: some main ships ain't gonna be straight, lads. While there is going to be a fair amount of het, as a bisexual multishipper, some people just aren't straight in my eyes. Some characters are going to be gay, some bi, some het, some ace, and so on. A few main characters of the same sex likely will start relationships as the story progresses (they're way too young right now, but some day.)

Now, if that kind of diversity is a deal breaker for you, I recommend you stop reading right now. And if it is, which is valid but does not justify harassment, I'd appreciate it if you don't hate on me and just go quietly. I'm telling you right now that I'm not going to change my story for anything you say. To the people who stay, though: thanks, lovelies! I love every single one of you.

My life was pretty simple before I died.

I was a college student who chose a competitive major just so she wouldn't get judged by her family, and then came back home to read her books. I lived with my mum, who was always asking me when I would move out, and I didn't have a close relationship with my dad. I had ghosted my highschool friends the second I graduated school because I was tired of them making me feel small, so now my only friends were some online people I'd met in person a few times and a handful of acquaintances from uni's preparation course. I spent my weekends babysitting my neighbor's 9 year-old, and not very much time studying for my tests. That was pretty much it.

Things were repetitive, boring and a bit miserable, and I complained all the time, but I didn't actually mind that much. Honestly, just hyperfixating on Harry Potter fanfiction whenever I had a free second was enough to bring me joy. I didn't think I would ever get tired of that world— I had first read the books when I was 11 and I had yet to find anything I liked more than giving them a re-read once in a while.

The day everything changed, that's exactly what I was doing. I had the first book open on my phone, and I was scrolling through it while walking back home. Harry had just met Ron in the Hogwarts Express, and Draco, my favorite character, was on his way to get his friendship offer rejected.

Man, I wonder what would've happened if Draco had been nicer to them that day.

A little lame, but that was my last thought before I got hit by a bus. Turns out reading while crossing a street isn't the smartest thing to do, no matter what your obsessive hyperfixating brain tells you.

I mean, at least I was reading my favorite series when it happened, you know? Good death, if you ask me. If my phone survived and people found out, I would be a legend in the fandom.

Well, that probably isn't the point here.

Although there wasn't really any point at all, seeing I was dead and everything.

Wish I'd done a little more with my life.

"Ugh…"

"Miss Daphne? Miss Daphne!"

There was someone screaming (at me?) but I could barely register their voice, much less the meaning of their words. I felt completely disoriented. My head was pounding, my whole body ached, my strength was nonexistent and I couldn't stand up or even move my arms. Every single sound felt thunderous, every single touch like pins and needles poking at me.

I had a random thought then. Is this how the Little Mermaid felt when her body transformed into that of a human?

Also, was I alive? Maybe I was dying.

I hadn't finished the thought when a sudden pain, one unlike any I had ever felt before in my life, overtook all my senses. I could no longer feel the pounding, the aching, the pins or the needles. All I knew was fire, so hot and so abrasive it was like lightning had burst inside my chest, snuck into my veins and was quickly spreading to my limbs.

Yup, I was definitely dying.

The voice kept screaming, and another one joined it— it sounded like a girl was suffering. Could it be there someone else who was hit by the bus? I had a sudden impulse of morbid curiosity (I could at least indulge in that if I was dying anyway, couldn't I?) so, with abysmal effort, I cracked open one eye.

Disconcertingly, I wasn't even on the street. There were trees, dirt, thin painful rain and…

What the fuck.

There was a wide-eyed, hairless, weepy creature looking at me from above. It reminded me a lot of Dobby from Harry Potter, if he was real. And if he was creepy as fuck, too.

Oh my God, maybe this was Hell and the creature was like… A minor devil or something. That was bad, wasn't it? It was, right? I knew stealing books from my highschool's library before graduating was wrong!

The minor devil snapped its fingers and then I wasn't only in excruciating pain, but also surrounded by a ring of floating golden flames. Lighting struck, and a robbed figure appeared from between the trees…

I'd love to tell you I had some deep revelation when I realized my eternal torture was about to begin, that I came to terms with my own destiny, laughed in the face of death—

Alright, this is serious, enough with the book quotes. Long story short, I screamed like a bitch.

Ah, it seems the suffering girl's voice was mine.

I woke up to the sound of a hushed conversation and heavy rain hitting the window glass. Normally I loved the sound of rain and unintelligible murmuring when I woke up, because it meant I wasn't alone. But whether because I could sense it was people I didn't know, or because there was still a dull remaining ache left in my body, I found myself unable to relax.

At least it seemed the bizarre sightings of evil Dobby, golden flames and robbed demons from before were just a weirdly vivid dream. My own subconscious sometimes worried me.

"...lucky she didn't suffer any more damage. A fall like that could've been fatal."

"Misty, you useless thing!"

"Misty is so sorry, Mistress Erine! Misty didn't protect Miss Daphne properly! Misty is a bad elf!"

"Quiet, you'll wake her. Go punish yourself, I'll decide what to do about you later on."

"Yes, Master! Right away! Misty is going to iron her hands and stick her ears into the oven, Master!"

There was a loud crack and I couldn't help but groan at the way the sound echoed in my skull. What was that insane conversation anyway?

"Oh! Daphne, darling, you're awake?"

I opened my eyes. The first thing I saw was a gorgeous woman I didn't know leaning over me with a smile.

She had long, blonde hair that fell smoothly down her shoulders, and beautiful green doe eyes. I'm sure I blushed a little. I mean, wow, what was such a beauty doing here with me? Was she a doctor or something?

And what a pretty British accent she had!

"Daphne." I turned my head at the sound of a deep, kind of chilly voice. Whoever was this Daphne, though? "Don't ever wander about by yourself again."

My eyes fell upon a man that seemed to be in his early 30s, and wowza, I blushed again. He was tall, broad-shouldered and rocked a low ponytail like I had only seen young guys on TikTok do. He had a cool British accent as well. Was he a doctor too?

Maybe I was in an all-British hospital or something. I did sort of remember getting hit by a bus. It was a wonder I was alive, if that was the case.

"Um…" I began. "Are you doctors or…?"

I stopped myself. Cleared my throat.

"Are you doctors? Am I in a hospital?"

What was up with my voice? Did I somehow injure my vocal chords? And why was I talking all British-y too? I sounded like a pretentious 10 year old! So embarrassing!

"I— Dear, it's us. Mother and father."

Huh?

"Er…" I looked at the pretty-eyed woman and the chiseled-jaw man. Yeah, there was no way these people were even related to me. Not only did I know I was the spitting image of my (actual) dad, but I wasn't delusional enough to think my average-looking brunette-with-brown-eyes self had come out of these Greek gods. "I think you're mistaken, ma'am…"

There was something about this woman, maybe the way her eyes were a little too open, or the corner of her mouth a little too twitchy, but it made me think she looked overall off the rails. She seemed about to go into a crisis. Or maybe just laugh hysterically and keep insisting she was my mum. It was hard to tell.

"What's the meaning of this, Healer Tremellen?" Even the man, who was so composed earlier, seemed mildly stricken, so I guess she wasn't the only one who somehow confused me with their offspring. Could it be that their actual daughter and I were really similar? Although, just how much bad luck can you have to look like me when you had not one but two beautiful parents with awesome genes to back you up?

Oh! My mouth formed an o and I covered it with my fingertips. Did this lady cheat on him with some really ugly bloke who cancelled-out her pretty genetics? Ohhh, maybe they were in love so she didn't care that he wasn't good-looking. My, my!

… Or not. She was probably just adopted, lol.

Someone I hadn't noticed until now came from further into the room, near a well-polished desk, and broke me from my reverie. I hadn't realized this either, but what an extravagant room I was in! Everything was lavish and looked like it would cost a fortune in a millionaires-only auction house.

It, too, did not look like a hospital in the slightest.

Um… I hadn't been kidnapped, had I?

No, no. I'm sure they only confused me with their missing daughter and brought me here… without any stops to a hospital first… just to take care of me. I mean, they did sound odd at times, but that didn't mean they were kidnappers.

"I would need to use my wand to have her examined, if you would grant me permission," the (alleged) doctor said.

…

First, let's discreetly sneak out of bed…

I almost fell on my face while trying to get down. My body felt all wrong, I got dizzy and I felt short even though I was standing up. I lifted a hand to my forehead, as one does, but when I looked at the hand approaching my face I flinched away— that is, until I realized it was mine. Except, it wasn't: it was smaller, paler, and more delicate than my actual hand. I gulped, getting cold sweat, and when I looked down at my feet with a sense of foreboding, I couldn't recognize them either.

The pounding in my head returned. Was this a nightmare? Or was I actually in Hell and this was a psychological kind of torture?

"Miss Greengrass, please stay in bed."

"Listen to what Healer Tremellen says, sweetheart."

The woman tried to grab my arm, but I shied away from her. I was, admittedly, starting to freak out a little bit.

I stumbled back a few steps and my back hit something tall that moved backwards, almost making me fall again. I turned around: it was a full body-length mirror.

And the reflection in it was not mine.

Instead, the one looking right at me was a pale young girl who couldn't be older than twelve. She had the same blond hair and green doe eyes as the woman who claimed to be her mother, and now I certainly understood why she did. They were like matryoshka dolls— one big, one small. Both the same.

I slowly turned around to the other three people in the room. Their expressions ranged from grave to distressed, but none of them approached me. I couldn't even begin to imagine what my face was doing as to stop these seemingly concerned adults from stepping forward, but I guessed my panicked thoughts had influenced it somewhat.

Am I dreaming?

Am I dead?

Am I in Hell?

Was I the victim of some messed up scientific experiment?

Did I swap bodies with someone?

Oh my God, what if I'm in a mental hospital somewhere and this is all a very realistic hallucination?

But if this is my own mind then why is everyone British!?

Before my train of thought could get any messier, I pinched my cheek hard enough to leave nail marks on the skin. It hurt and the gorgeous lady let out a sob while staring at the tall man in fear. Not a dream, then. And I didn't feel particularly dead, to be honest. Exam periods have had me feeling way worse than this.

Wait.

"Daphne..." I murmured. The name felt distantly familiar, when combined with what the doctor had called me. But I had probably heard wrong...

"Miss Greengrass," or not, "if I may, what's the last thing you remember?" He sounded like he was dealing with an easy to scare animal. I didn't know if that was considerate or condescending, but I was too busy having a mental collapse as to reply anyway.

Greengrass.

That Dobby-like creature...

Daphne Greengrass.

"Miss Greengrass?"

"Darling...?"

I grabbed my hair in my hands and didn't answer. The likely implications of my current conundrum were so large I couldn't find the words.

I heard someone finally step towards me just as there was a knock on the door. My head snapped to the sound, and a child with green eyes and jet black hair stepped in. Her brows were furrowed, her gaze downcast and her lips downturned— as if she was trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible. It didn't work, from the way the man clenched his jaw and the lady's worried expression changed into a grimace. I felt goosebumps on my skin.

"Astoria," the tall man, apparently the one that took the step forward, said. He didn't look at her, and he sounded tired just from saying her name. "Go back to your room."

"But, Father! I want to know how Daphne's-"

"Astoria Greengrass," I interrupted, thoughts racing, staring straight at her and receiving an uneasy look in return. The woman's countenance changed again, and for some reason she looked at me with a hopeful smile that only served to make me uncomfortable— I still couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was, but something felt terribly off about her.

Astoria's appearance that day was like she was sealing my fate. Hallucination or not, I understood what was happening to me now.

I felt the hair of my neck and arms standing on end, but this time it was out of pure excitement. A slow grin formed on my face as I took everything in.

This wasn't Hell, or a nightmare, or a psychological torture of any kind. On the contrary! I had somehow reincarnated, possessed or— or something— the body of a character in Harry freaking Potter! My favorite book series of all time!

Granted, this was a character that was so minor most people wouldn't even remember who she was; she had no backstory, close to zero specific details about her, she was the opposite of important and even her appearance was a fanon fact never confirmed by the author. She was insignificant.

But! She was Harry's age! She'd be around the main characters when they did cool main character stuff! She was going to Hogwarts! She survived the war!

And, most important of all: she had magic!

I made a little jump, hands on my flushed cheeks and heart beating fast. I was smiling so much, I was lucky my grin wasn't splitting my face in two. Did this mean I could meet my favorite characters? Even Draco Malfoy? I had a feeling I wouldn't like him in person as much as I did in fanfics, but still!

"Oh my God!" I yelled, covering my mouth with my hands as a huge realization came over me. "I can save them!"

I could save Sirius! I could save Fred! I could save Remus and Tonks and everyone who didn't deserve to die! I— I could…!

From the corner of my eyes, I saw some small things in the room begin to float, and then every lamp and toy lighted up and started moving as I placed my eyes on them. A white little rodent-like plush approached my face, mock-sniffed me and nuzzled my nose. I giggled, feeling tickly and elated and like a muggleborn who had just learned she was a witch for the first time.

I heard someone murmur the words 'accidental magic', and 'too old', but I couldn't pay attention to them. The world around me was spinning, and I think I was spinning with it, or I could've been standing perfectly still, but things kept moving, and soon enough I was growing unconscious to the light of lamps and toys and the faint music of a music box somewhere in the room.

So this is magic… I thought, watching the starry figures shining and hovering above me with half-lidded eyes.

I didn't even notice the highly perturbed faces of the poor unsuspecting family, but that's okay. I was too happy to care anyways.

(Original notes)

This fanfiction is the single greatest piece of self-indulgent shenanigans I have ever written. So fun!

I'm not usually one for first-person narrative, but I thought this merited it. Also, this fic WILL contain ships of every shape, color and texture. You have been warned.

PS: this is NOT the type of story where a lot of guys fall for the MC and she has to pick one or anything like that! Sorry if that's what you were expecting. This is more of an ode to fangirling, really. But like, not in a creepy-obsessive way, more like a really-excited-about-everything way. Hope you like it!